Spray cleaning system



April 29, 1924. I 2,491,910

F. M. HILGERYINK SPRAY CLEA-NING SYSTEM Filed bed. 20; 1920 V 2Sheets-Sheet 1 April 29, 1924.; 1,491,910

F. M. HILGERINK I SPRAY CLEANING SYSTEM Fild Dec. 20. 1920, {Sheets-Shut 2 q I a r Q hue/27?? Lg Fan/a XVII/@0026 ltd till

application filed Dancer so, 1W0. serial We. till- ,038.

7 '0 all whom e't may concern Be it known that l, FRANK hi.ll-lrnennrnn, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, inthe county of Cook and State of lllllIlOlS, have invented certain newand useful .lmrovements in Spray Cleaning Systems, a i which thefollowing is a specification.

This invention relates to a system for washing oil the exterior surfacesof locomotives or other apparatus where grease and dust accumulate, andproceeds upon the principle of forcibly spraying a crust the surface tobe cleaned hot water caring a suitable content of finely subdividedcleaning oil which is delivered against the surface to be cleaned underconditions which permit the oil to act upon the accumulated grease andforei matter, reducing these to a condition whic permits it to bereadily borne ofi by the water as a vehicle; the mixture of oil andwater bein preferably acted upon by a subdividing an issues from thenozz as is more fully described in the patent to Durham, et al., No.1,113,967. Get. 20, 191%.

One of the dificulties'experienced in systems of this a has existed inthe matter of controlling the temperature or? the water, keeping itabove a temperature at which it ceases to become efiective in removingthe greasy deposit, and below an upper limit at which it becomesinjurious to ainted or other surfaces againstawhich it is sprayed; andone feature of the present invention consists in providing in such acleaning system a water heater comprising two concentric pipes, to oneor which, preferably the inner one steam is supplied under comparativelyhigh pressure and to the other of which, preferably the outer one, or tothe annular space between the pipes, is supplied water to be heated; thesteam and water ing led in at opposite ends so that the water encountersthe hottest part of the steam as it leaves the heater; and the steampipe being provided with a suitable trap that permits escape of itswater of preci itation without passing any of the steam. or convenienceand economy of space the concentric pipes are divided into connectedsections, and these sections are arranged in groups, but the elfeotisthat ol two long concentric pipes receiving the respective elementsnamed, in the maer described.

A thermostat at the discharge end of the enering blast of air as itwater pipe, and therefore responsive to the ultimate eds-ct of theheater, controls the valve that supplies the steam'to the steam pipe,and by varying pressure of the steam, 60

and consequently its tem rature within the heater, the heatin capacityis kept between the limits desire so that the water issues from thedischarge end at the desired temperature, say, between 120 and 140 F. 65

even though the water flows to the full capacity required to supply aplurality of cleaning mixture outlets in the system, and remains betweensaid limits of temperature even though the water be shut 0d altogether.79

Another difilculty that has been expenamed in cleaning systems of thiskind has occurred in connection with the feed of oil and the regulationof the proportion of oil to hot water. Another feature of the present,75

invention consists in sup lying the oil constituent of the spray rom atank and through a plurality of outlets of varying capaclty, so thatinstead of attempting to re late the degree of opening of a single allva ve according to the quantity of oil requlredf, one or more valves ofpredetermined capacity, ada either singly or collectively to supp y theexact quantity, "are emloyed. Moreover, the oil is expelled from 95 itsreservoir under pressure developed by supplying water to the bottom ofthe oil reservoir, preferably under the same head of pressure as thatwhich delivers the hot water supply so that the oil as well as the m butwater will be responsive to the load on the distributing line orquantity of mixture consumed, and the oil will he delivered in the sameratio to water consumption regardless of the quantities used.

In order that the invention will be fully understood, an illustrativeembodiment thereof will now be described in detail in connection withthe accompanying draw- Fl re 4 is a view of the oil supply and theistributing system beyond the Will:

and

Fire 5 is a detail view oi the spray nozze,

an air ta on to contain air will " under pressure and supply it to thesystem" through a pipe 2 3 represents a steam pipe, and 4 a ipe for suplying water un er a head pressure suficient todeliver it through thesystem.

5 represents a heating coil which may assume any convenient formdictated by the conditions under which it is to .be located, and whichcomprises an inner pipe 6 .connected indirectly through thermostaticpressure control' with the steam pipe 3 and surrounding pipe 7 which iskept supplied Wit-h water through pipe 4.

The steam pipe 6 emerges from that end of the heater 5 which is oppositethe end at which the heater delivers hot water, and said steam pipeenters a trap 8 of known construction which ermits' escape of water ofcondensation while confining the steam. Interposed in the steam pipe 3as it approaches the heater 5 is an automatic pressure valve 9controlled by a thermostatic device 10 which is subject to temperatureeffect of water in the pipe 11 through which the water escapes from theheater; the arrangement bein such that the valve 9 is opened or close asthe temperature of the water in pi 11 falls below 120 or above 140 F. A.thermometer 12 may also be introduced in the pipe 11 for convenience inobserving the work of the heater. 13 represents a gauge through means ofwhich to observe the working'conditions on the air line 2.

14 is the oil tank having a suitable filling connection 15, a pluralityof discharge channel 16 16, and 16 of different capacities controlled byvalves 17, 17, and 17 and having a connection 11 through which itreceives hot water at bottom as a means of forcing out the oil at thetop; also suitable drainage outlet 18 controlled by valve 18 throughwhich the oil-displacing water may be discharged when it becomesnecessary to mplenish oil in the tank, at which times the water supplywill be cut ofi by the valve 19 and the refilling connection anddrainage valve 18 opened until the tank 14 is emptied of water, whenvalve 18" will be closed, tank 14 will be refilled with oil throu hconnection 15, said connection 15 will 51611 be closed, and the watersuppl connection 19 will be opened to put the 011 tank under deliverypressure. At such times of oil re lenishment in tank 14, discharge pipe20 or the mixture of oil and water may also be closed through valve-21,thereby avoiding the necessity of changing adjustment of theproportioning valves 17, 17', mg 12' 1 alit f d h y avmgapur y 0 moargepassages gauged to supply, each, a redetermmed unit of an aggregatesupp y of oil into the stream of vehicle water, together with means forindependently controlling each passaige at it becomes an easy 2 matterto rmine with accuracy the roportion of cleansing element introducedinto the water, and to accomplish thisthrough instruction of relativelyunskilled labor rather than. by skill of an operator; and

passages discharge delivered to the water; that is to say, threedifferent proportions may be delivered by sim ly selecting the first,second or third out et, another proportion by opening all of the threetogether, and three more proportions by opening, jointly, either thefirst and second, or the .first and third, or the second and third; andsince the outlets all deliver under the same head of pressure theproportioningvwill be accurate, and can be carried out, underinstruction, by unskilled labor by simply opening specified outlets totheir full capacity.

Oil from the tank 14 meets hot water through branch 11" in the mixer 20,whence the water with 'ts properly proportioned content of oil flowsinto 'the pipe 20, past the valve 21 to the distributin main 23. Airpipe 2 continues to the istributing points, so that at each washingstation there will be an outlet plug 24, 24", 24, etc., as well as anair outlet 2, 2 2, etc. order that each outlet 24, etc., may receive theproper supply of mixture when two or more stations may be in operationat the same time, the distributing main 23 has its capacity reducedbeyondeach washing station so that it consists of a series of sections23, 23, etc., of progressively smaller capacity.

In order to deliver the cleaning mixture against the locomotive or othersurfaces to be cleaned, a delivery nozzle such as shown in Fi re 5is'preferably used, and which comprlses the conduit 25 adapted to beconnected by hose 25 to any one of the mixture plugs 24', etc., and anair conduit 26 having a hose 26 through which it may receive air supplyfrom any one of the air outlets 2', etc. Regulating valves 25 and 26 areprovided on the nozzle for regulating, res'pectively,'the supply of oiland water mixture and the supply of air. 27 represents a gri or handlethrou h which the nozzle may manipulated. e outlet end of the nozzle 28is of known construction and is such that the air discharges againstthemixture of oil and water after the manner of an atomizer, thus insuringa very fine temperature of the fluid vehicle at a degree as well aslending impetus to the spray and greater effectiveness in its imingement against the surfaces to be cleaned.

From the foregoing description it will be seen that the hot water pipeconstitutes a conduit for delivery of a fluid vehicle, whereas the oiltank constitutes a container for delivering, or adapted to deliver, acleaning element into the fluid vehicle. It will also be seen that theheater insures the that conditions the cleaning element when deliveredinto the fluid vehicle; and that the use of the water supply and thehead under which it is supplied to displace the oil from the tank isunder conditions that maintains substantially identical discharge pressure through one or any number of the oil discharge passages which maybe opened, so that the gauging of the oil assage becomes an accuratemeasure of t e quantity of oil delivered.

ply having a plurality of differently gauged individually andcollectively operable charge passages through which it is adapted todeliver cleansing element to said pipe, and means for controlling thedischarge of clelainsing element through said passages, atw1 2. In acleaning system, a fluid vehicle pipe, a cleansing element container, aplurality of discharge passages through each and all of which saidcontainer is adapted to deliver cleansing element to said pipe, andmeans for opening any number of said passages at will; said passagesbeing gauged when fully opened to predetermined diverse ca acity.

gigned at Chicago, Illinois, this 17th day of December, '1920.

FRA M. HILGER

